The World Builder Project

A Special Award May 30, 2008

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We were really pleased that Mrs McCall, Mrs Clark and Mr Wood were able to join us for our presentation on Monday at this busy time of year. And it seems that they were so impressed with the efforts of our class that we were presented with a Certificate of Achievement!

And the project went out with a bang….. May 26, 2008

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Today everyone worked really hard to finish stories and props and get the class ready for our presentation in the afternoon.

The pressure was on to get drafts finished, typed and blogged, and I am pleased that so many managed to do it. Please do keep checking the Our Worlds page as more will be added each day. And yes, they are actually there to read again now!

Everyone had one last chance to edit their game, and Kieron very kindly arrived in the morning to offer assistance.

Over lunchtime Callum and Steffani helped to transform our classroom into the World Builder Presentation room.

Judy arrived and helped us to set up a bank of computers at the front where parents and other guests could be shown our fab games. All the desks were moved and the chairs laid out in rows. Morgan, Hannah and Mairead came up with the genius idea of running a Rune Translation competition and so set to work preparing that and getting it all photocopied. Mairead also put together a slideshow about the work we had done on Runes, and Rory’s name plate was a prefect example to have on show. We also set up a laptop where visitors could use the website to find out their hobbit and elf names! We barely had time to eat!

At 1:45 the parents arrived, and the room began to fill up. We were delighted that so many parents went out of their way and took time off of work especially to come along! Mrs McCall, Mrs Clark and Mr Wood also made a special effort to attend.

After a bit of an introduction from Judy and myself, it was time for everyone to read their stories. Some people were very shy to begin with, but we ended up hearing about 10! Well done brave people!

We took a break after about 5 or 6 of them, and then we demonstrated our games to our visitors by Group. Having the competition and other activities running at the same time here worked really well -thank you girls! It looks like we really tested those parents!

Everyone was very impressed, (and some a little mystified) by our computer games. We were able to show some games on the interactive whiteboard which made them easier to see.

Back in our seats, the announcement was made: Mrs Clark won our competition!

After some more excellent story reading, every member of the class was presented with a certificate from the Adventure Author team for a job very well done!

First Class First Drafts! May 19, 2008

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Having worked really hard on storylines, quests, scene setting and character personality, the time has arrived to get these fantastic fantasy stories down on paper!

I have read some of the first drafts, and I have to tell you that they really are very, very impressive! We will be word-processing and podcasting the finished versions in the coming weeks.

Play Testing Day May 19, 2008

Posted by Miss Collins in : Games-Based Learning Links, Images , 13comments

Today the Adventure Author team took us through another exclusive piece of software: the evaluation forms. This has been designed within the toolset for designers to have their game tested, evaluated and rated by a friend. We had to change our groups around a bit today, and that was actually really good because in many cases the games were assessed by someone who hadn’t seen any of the development stages at all, and so the game and quest was 100% new to them.

The evaluation forms have sections for the tester to comment on the game’s area, storyline and playability. After this the designer has an opportunity to agree or disagree with what the tester has said.

Once again, everyone in the class was a shining example for Campie and approached this task with a very mature and thoughtful attitude. The Adventure Author team were delighted with how constructive the evaluations were and how positively everyone responded to ways they could improve their game.

When we have more time we will add some examples of the comments and targets that everyone set for themselves. In the meantime, here are some photos of the testing in action:

Great Groups and Amazing Artwork May 18, 2008

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What a busy week! So busy I didn’t get a chance to add to this until the weekend!

On Wednesday each group had a short slot of time on the laptops to try and get their game ready for our Play Testing session on Monday 19th. What has been really good to see since we started this project is just how well everyone supports each other and helps those having difficulties. Because we have to work in rotating groups and we try to do so much each day, it is almost impossible for me to spend time with the group on the laptops, so the fact that you have all been helping each other has been vital. Thank you everyone!

As well as working on the game, everyone has been making a start to their World Builder story, and has been working on their prop design. There are some very detailed drawings, especially for sword hilts.

On Friday we had an hour to start actually making the props. It was total mayhem, but already many of the swords, plaques and shields have been created from an assortment of tubes, boxes, food containers and fabrics. Thank you to Mr Thompson the Janitor for helping people spray-paint outside when he was already very busy!

The World Builder Display May 1, 2008

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The display inside our classroom is beginning to reflect the huge amount of work that we have done so far on our World Builder project. All our collage Land of Fairy Tale characters are up there, as well as the images from famous fantasy stories such as “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “The Lord of The Rings” that we used to develop our own characters. There is a Middle Earth section, with maps from “LOTR” and “The Hobbit”, I have one completed Elf Name picture by Morgan up too. More please!

Our Worlds & Quests Are Beginning To Take Shape.. April 30, 2008

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Our groups met to share storyline ideas: characters, villains, settings, world names, helpers and, most importantly, quests. This was really useful to help everyone summarise and focus their ideas, and also helped those who were still finding it tricky. The great thing about this was also that it shows just how different everyone’s stories are, even though we are all using the same software with the same tools.